How Healthcare Works, LLC

In the early 2000s, the buzz phrase for hospitals and healthcare organizations was "core competencies" or a set of behaviors organizations wanted all staff members to exhibit.  One of those behaviors was "treating others with dignity and respect." To some employees, they wondered the reason that was even a behavioral issue.  They felt that they pursued healthcare careers to preserve the rights, health, and dignity of patients and others.  Unfortunately, that is not the case for everyone. Considerable research has been done regarding treating patients with dignity and respect.  The focus of the research is how care providers can enhance the autonomy of the patient while also caring for the patient.  Calling patients by their preferred names, engaging them as care partners, and not talking to them in sing-song voices as one would a small child, are all measures that have been taken.  However, dignity and respect goes beyond patient care in a healthcare organization

While some Americans may cry for government to get out of their healthcare, the probability of that occurring is slim to none.  Healthcare is one of the most regulated industries in the United States. The regulations are to protect the health, safety, welfare, quality and cost of healthcare services in this country.  Moreover, close to 18% of the United States' gross domestic product is spent  on health care. Gross domestic product is the total of all goods and services that are made in a country in one year.  That means, in one year, almost $1 out of every $5 is spent on healthcare. The federal government spends over $1 trillion a year on healthcare. As such, politics and healthcare are not a marriage of convenience.  They are a marriage of necessity. Of course, healthcare and politicians are dependent upon the millions of Americans who consume healthcare services every year.  Healthcare organizations can have the best hospitals, the best equipment, the most qualified profession

A young adult male, Bob,  rushed up to the desk of the doctor's office.  Bob told the clerk that his dad was there. He knew his dad was there because his mom told him that his dad was sick, so Bob should not plan on coming over for dinner that evening. The young man demanded that the clerk let him see his dad.  He told her that he had a right to know what was going on with his dad.  Bob started getting very irate and told her that she better let him see his dad or he was going to sue the clinic.  The clerk just smiled and told him that was not possible.  She asked his name and said that she would check to see if he could go back to the exam room.  The clerk left for a few moments and came back and told Bob, that no, his father did not want him in the exam room. Bob was furious.  He knew about HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) from his own past experiences with doctors and nurses.  He remembered his parents discussing his treatment with his doctors and nu